Saying goodbye is always the hardest part. I always hate leaving the mission field even if it has been just a few weeks. The stay is never long enough. We had to head to the city after we packed up and now we are heading home. Overall this has been a tremendous trip. The SENT team has been used by God to be His hands and feet to touch the Honduran people. We have so many memories and stories to take home and share with our loved ones. I wish everyone could have come and been a part of this trip. I am proud of this team they have had a burden and have worked hard to see God move the way that He has. Thank you to FGBI and Bro. Pahlman for having a vision and allowing us in a small way to fulfill the Great Commission. I can say that I have seen God allow His Spirit to flow through us and eternity will be impacted by these students. God bless the Sumners for their hard work. Their labor is not in vain. God bless SENT especially SENT 2014. It has been a blessing to be a part of this team. I am proud of you all. God bless!
Today we didn’t have services, which were quite strange, but we did some site seeing and went to the valley of angels. It was a good day spent together. We came home and grilled out and enjoyed the fellowship of the Sumner family. They have been wonderful hosts. With everything they have to do, and then let 16 people come and be a part of the work they do here and take care of us in such a wonderful thing. May God bless them richly!
We are through with the church services, but today we had three military and police services. We went to the air force first; this allowed us to be in service with every branch of the military! What an amazing opportunity! We toured the facilities and had a good time there. Then we went to the English School. This is where the officers are trained in English! This was one of my favorite places. We did the whole service in English which was a blessing! Getting to talk with them afterwards was one of the most rewarding times. I met Lieutenant Artiles. He told me his testimony of how he found God. It is difficult for the military to be Christians for they face much persecution and have no real support. It is important for the Sumner family to hold the services they do to influence these men and women. We talked about the Bible, the Lord and his Christian walk, the encouragement he needed as God let our paths cross also encouraged me. Thank you, Lord, for ordering my steps.
The last service was at the police academy where we got to minister to 300 or more police cadets. God moved and they were so enthusiastic. We serve a mighty God. This was our last night of youth revival. You could tell that the people were tired, but the Lord came by despite that fact. I rode the bus for the last night; I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to be with the people of the church. As they got on and would see me, they would give me smiles and hugs accompanied by “hermana Amanda!” I will miss those faces! As we began service, their youth sang and it was wonderful to see them worshiping the Lord. They are truly hungry for God. The sermons and testimonies spoke a word from the Lord. Bro. Pahlman preached about staying revived after revival. At the end of service the congregation testified to what the Lord had done for them during kid’s crusade and youth revival. Many testified about Saturday night kid’s crusade when we prayed for the sick and how God healed them! Some testified to the Lord meeting their needs to an answer to prayer! It isn’t us but the Lord, may He be glorified. To me, I was amazed as I heard them testify and hear how God had answered my prayers to seeing Him work in Honduras. Praise the Lord that He is still doing great things!
We spent most of the day working at the soup kitchen cleaning and repainting the tables and benches. We finished the work there for the day and while waiting for our ride, I played football and soccer with the children of the neighborhood while others gave them a ride on the golf cart or played soccer as well. By the time we left, I was covered in dust and dirt. It was well worth it though. Getting to know the kids seeing their smiling faces and hearing them call for “hermana Amanda”. I love it here.
We went into service ready to see God move in a greater way. Testimonies, songs, and preaching were the agenda again. James was the last preacher of the night and preached about the blood of Christ, God used both of the guys that preached God came down and did a mighty work among the congregation. To see the hunger in the people for God, I wish people in America would be the same. After service a young man wanted to thank me for my testimony and letting God use me. I was so thankful that God would use me and speak to me a word for someone. We are undeserving of the presence of God be He is faithful who calleth! This trip seems to be coming to an end way too fast. I wish we had more time. Love and miss you all at home. Sunday morning we finished our kid’s crusade with focusing on the power of the Holy Spirit. The adults and youth went to class with Bro. Pahlman and a man known as the town drunk came forward and prayed for salvation. They joined back up with us as our altar call was given. Our desire was to see them filled with the Holy Spirit. As Rachel and Elizabeth sang, the children began to come forward praying to be filled with the Spirit. Then the youth and the adults as well came forward praying for their children and some for themselves. One young boy about seven years old with hands raised and with tears flowing was filled with the Spirit of God. It was such a beautiful sight.
Sunday night the youth revival began. Testimonies, songs, and preaching came forth. You could feel the Lord moving in the service from the very beginning. Daniel preached about “Thank God for Jesus” and others testified. The Lord was definitely moving in hearts. As Rachel and Elizabeth were singing “How Great Is Our God” people began to step out of their seats and praise and worship was going up to the Lord. Bro. Aaron began to exhort on putting the devil under our feet and declaring victory was in the house. Shouting and deliverance was coming from the congregation! Everyone was in unity believing God for a work. This morning we rose early and got ready to go cook at the soup kitchen. In a poor area the church has a kitchen set up to feed the hungry children where they serve close to two hundred people every Saturday. We helped make the meal and played with the children that came early. Before the meal is served they have a Bible lesson. We acted out the story of Nehemiah. They children were laughing and having a good time as well as the students. After the lesson and prayer we served the people their meal. Amazing!!! It is such a wonderful feeling to be a part of such a great work. After the meal we traveled with twenty people in a fifteen passenger van to three homes where ladies from the church have Saturday school for the children in their neighborhood. We did the lesson on Nehemiah, sang and prayed with the children. It was a blast! Afterwards, we went to the church to set up for the crusade. Once again the bus was filled with people ready to have fun and learn about God. Our focus was the word of God. We went through the night doing skits playing games and were ready for the altar call. The Lord was moving in such a wonderful way and I felt impressed to pray for the sick. After we had just taught about the word of God what better way for God to prove Himself true! The Spirit of the Lord came down. Adults and children alike came forward for prayer. One mother brought her daughter who was diagnosed with pulps in her intestines believing God for a miracle and we prayed for her. Another mother brought her baby boy who was sick because of parasites. There were so many people praying and believing God to touch them. Thank God that He is the healer.
This was the first night of our Kid’s Crusade with the theme “defenders of the truth”. We have spent a week ministering to the military and police feeling the presence of God and seeing lives touched. We have been looking forward to it. This was a different setting and everyone has become comfortable being in a different country and comfortable working with an interpreter, it was an actual church service. We were trying to portray who Jesus is. Several of the students rode on the bus to pick up the kids, seeing everyone coming off the bus enthusiasm filled the air. We had a great night with the kids and adults great participants to what we were doing. When the altar call was given there were 25-30 children who came forward to pray. You can’t but be touched to see these children seek God. Some came just to come others were really seeking God.
We are traveling back to the Sumner’s home. We had four services today. Our first was a military communications group which is the only one they have. Service was held outdoors again. Seeing the sunrise early and proclaiming the Gospel is a wonderful way to start the day. From sunrise to sunset the message of the Gospel is being preached in Honduras. God is good! We visited the sixth battalion today; this was the place that the Sumner’s first started their military and police ministry. Bro. Alan was pointing out the very spot where God opened the door. It was a special time realizing how one step of faith has led to one family reaching a whole country. Nothing is impossible with God. After service we received word that the commander wanted us to come to his house. I would have to explain this later but this is something the Lord showed me before we came. He allowed us to sit down with the commander and talk to him about the Lord. We had refreshments and talked. I walked away smiling knowing God once again was showing himself to us. Everywhere it seems we go God is touching lives and answering prayer. What an amazing God we serve. We joined back with the North team and will continue together. Kid’s crusade tomorrow – I can’t wait!
We continued our quest of ministering to the military and police. We went to both the police and military academies. Seeing them so eager to hear what we had to say brought a renewed joy and excitement to continue to bring them the word. This morning we held a service outdoors and they asked for them to come down front for prayer. There were seven or eight soldiers that stepped out. After the preaching and the singing to know that God is working to touch lives is amazing. It’s hard when you can’t speak their language well enough to talk with them. But seeing the hands that raise and the tears that fall, with the spirit you feel you know God is accomplishing His will and He has no limits.
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AuthorSis. Amanda Hillyer is a graduate of Free Gospel Bible Institute. She is the Dean of Women and a teacher at Free Gospel Bible Institute. ArchivesCategories |